What's Wrong with LA?

Hiking through Runyon Canyon the other day, I was befriended by a guy with a pure bread/UNneutered dog (telling). Eventually, and not surprisingly given my infatuation with the show, we began to discuss Entourage. Since I am a firm believer that much can be deduced about a person based on who his favorite Entourage character is, we exchanged answers. His: Ari. Mine: E.

Would you believe this guy looked at me with a straight face and said, "Eric! Are you serious? HE'S what's wrong with THIS town". This statement troubles me on many levels.

First of all, while enjoying Ari as a television character is perfectly acceptable, as a person he sucks and furthermore, HE embodies WHAT'S WRONG WITH LA. There are many examples which I could use to illustrate this point, but I think we can all agree if he were real (or if Ari Emanuel is anything at all like he’s depicted) he's just plain mean. Funny yes, but mean- very. Secondly, he is the epitome of the LA hot shot slickster (as I like to call them). If you live in LA, or have ever dated a guy from LA, you know what I'm talking about. (Remind me to show this article to my neighbor who warned me about men in LA before I moved here- I totally wrote him off and then made fun of his comments behind his back). The LA hot shot slickster drives an expensive foreign car, screams into his cell phone in public venues, and thinks he's cooler than I think I am (and trust me, THAT is saying something just ask my friend Jess).

On the other hand, there's E. E is your stereotypical LA import. Somehow despite making some money, he maintains his east-coast attitude, he's thankful for his success, he attempts to get along well with others, and he respects women. I mean, my god, he can't have unemotional sex! Believe me when I tell you, E is NOT the problem with the industry.

In fact, "the problem" that people are referring to with respect to LA, is that people like this guy from Runyon see guys like E as the problem, while worshipping people like Ari. While Ari is in fact a very engaging character, the fact remains he is just a character, and attempting to emulate him in real life will not yield good karma. If more industry people were like E, I would hang out more in Hollywood and less in Venice. Furthermore, I wouldn't crack up every time I see some hot east coast guy on the Westside wearing a backwards hat and a t-shirt that reads "industry people suck".